


Head Above Water

by PurpleRose244



Category: 3Below (Cartoon), Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Also Darci and Tobes because they are cuties, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, But their besties are far away so they are sad, Canon Compliant, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pancakes, Panic Attacks, Right?, Stress, That's what friendship is about, They eat pancakes at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 14:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18606595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleRose244/pseuds/PurpleRose244
Summary: With the incriminating photo in his hand Eli is finally ready to force a full confession out of the alien!His genius plan has been set and it involves a cafeteria, gluten-free pancakes, nice mindless chatters, phone ready in his pocket, fantasies about the biggest reveal of the unexplained since Battle of the Bands, a glooming couple a few tables away, arguments about a jacket, paranoia and anxiety, bonding in a bathroom over panic attacks... wait wha- (set before season 2)





	Head Above Water

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly about the friendship between Krel and Eli, also adding my ships because I love DarcixTobypie and the math dorks a lot <3 I saw a video (I think it came out before 3Below?) where Eli shows the photo to Toby, I don't know how canon it is but let's just say this fic is before ^^"  
> The title is the song I was listening to while thinking about the fic, Head Above Water of Avril Lavigne. It's beautiful <3  
> Enoy! ^ ^

“Eli, hey!” Darci came to his table, waving at him. “Where have you been? With you two spending so much time together, seeing Steve on his own is getting weird!” She snickered, even if not with the usual relaxing tone. There was tiredness, and a bit of a faint light in her eyes.

Eli couldn’t exactly blame her, even less her chubby boyfriend glooming at their table, munching some scramble eggs with not much enthusiasm. He just shrugged.

“I took some time for myself, after all that happened. How are you and Toby?”

“Not too hot at the moment, but we’re doing our best. Besides, Claire and Jim call us almost every day, it’s not as far away as it seems. It’s just… different.” Darci shook her head, lifting up her chin. “Never mind that! We’re finally getting used to hanging out again, today our summer really commence!” She was a pretty tough girl after all, coming out alive from a full apocalypse battle with trolls involved kinda does that to your attitude. “Are you on your on? You can join us if you want.”

Eli held together a wider grin, patting slightly the menu. In his pocket his phone was vibrating with probably unread messages from Steve, but it was another file that filled his entire being with expectation. At last, he was right all along: this was really the year of Eli.

“I’m actually waiting for someone.”

“Oh cool, who?”

“Krel.”

“Aja’s brother?” He nodded. “Didn’t expect that, he seems like kind of a distant guy. Though his performance was probably the only nice event from Battle of the Bands.” Darci looked around and scooted closer, lowering her voice. “If it doesn’t bother you, can you ask him a copy of the mix he played at Battle of the Bands?”

Eli blinked in confusion. Was that kind of discretion really needed?

“Well sure, I can do that. That was really awesome, huh?”

Darci giggled, and finally she seemed less sad.

“It was, but Mary would go bananas knowing I want a cd from the concurrence. Besides, you wouldn’t believe it, Seamus asked for it. That guy is hopeless, he gets owned into a math test to the point his opponent throws the duel for him, and now Mr. Latino Wonder is all he can think of. Like, he got his butt kicked and _that_ ’s what charmed him? What’s that?”

Eli huffed.

“Tell me about it.” Steve’s unending poems about the beautiful Aja Tarron sometimes played randomly in his head. To be fair, helping his friend for his song did not help. “I’ll ask him if he does have a cd.”

“Thanks! Me and Tobypie are probably catching a movie later, you guys can join if you want.”

Oh yeah. Life was supposed to continue after what was meant to happen at his table.

“Huh, I’ll ask Krel.”

“Cool, see ya later.” She waved and went back to her boyfriend, putting an arm around his back and hugging him close. It was so natural for them acting like a couple, and right now the fact that they were far away from their best friends just got them closer. Eli kinda missed the poetry of it, in his mind he had started to scream excitedly since he got to the place, waiting for the happening. It was almost unreal. It came to him only when the Eighties atmosphere of the place kinda broke down, as a mechanic switched off the jukebox for repairment. At that point he could almost drown into the blissfulness of the moment, the acknowledgment of the situation.

Not only the entire city of Arcadia finally acknowledged that trolls were absolutely and one hundred percent real – school getting rebuilt was enough proof, man the last day couldn’t have come in a better moment – but today, in this coffee scented place full of poorly unaware citizens of Arcadia, the truth was going to be unfolded once again. By him, Elijah Leslie – darn it mom – Pepperjack. In a couple of minutes, the empty seat in front of him was going to host the subject of his discovering, making this the best summer he ever had.

Hi, it is indeed Krel

I accept your invitation to discuss whatever you may need

I’ll see you tomorrow at the so-called cafeteria

Eli was trying to hold the gigantic grin on his face, waving gently at the waitress to signal he was going to wait a couple of minutes more – he got there, like, an hour early anyway.

The last night he actually managed to squeak louder than his mother’s shouts, the alien’s reply coming faster than expected. Just fourteen days spent planning and imagining his next move, all alone inside his room, his scheme getting bigger and the empty mugs of cocoa multiplying. This time, he wasn’t going to rush a thing with the two extraterrestrials. No, he got fooled before, this time cautiousness was needed, so even every doubt into Steve’s – tiny, with all his love for his best bud – brain was going to disappear. Intricated plans and fantasies of an award for proving the existence of life on other planets got him so worked up he barely saw the world outside his bedroom. And right then he decided, there was no point into asking for confirmation.

Eli wanted, _needed_ , a full confession.

As the celebration for the trophy of the “I was right- _est_ ” guy in Arcadia commenced in his head, he finally spotted the Latino boy entering, so natural with his headphones around the neck. Eli felt the excitement messing up his stomach, and wondered if it had been a good idea organizing the meeting at breakfast. To be fair, facing a lifeform from a different planet with a pile of gluten-free pancakes by his side sounded less unnerving. Krel noticed him and smiled, waving while getting closer like he was actually happy to see him. Which was a little weird considering his standard ‘pissed off by humanity’ expression… huh. Maybe him being an alien made way more sense than he thought.

Eli waved back, gesturing the seat in front of him.

“Thanks for coming, I’m sorry if it caused you some troubles, being a last-minute thing.”

“It is indeed a very rude behavior towards my persona, but I’ll go through this little inconvenience for this time. In fact I am mostly satisfied by the outcome, according to Aja I should made an effort and go out more. The timing is pretty impressive.” Now that sounded more like him. He sat down in front of him, breathing out like he came there running.

Eli shrugged, offering a smile. Like a little bit of blunt attitude could bring him down, he lived through the Palchuk during his worst bully phase.

“I haven’t seen you in a while, even if I know Aja is hanging out with Steve and the gang a lot!” Two weeks isolated in his room were nothing with Steve’s almost live commentary over whatever new majestic feature he just discovered about his date. It worked perfectly for him, though, casual conversation like that were perfect for making the situation less formal. And that was his precise plan, acting like he was happy to see him.

It worked. Because he was actually happy.

There wasn’t exactly a defined line between the blue neon alien with multiple arms and the math genius that went scavenging with him into the forest. Thinking about it too much would make him lose his appetite, and he needed his breakfast for not fainting randomly under the sun of Arcadia during the day.

Krel nodded, taking an extremely quick look from the menu. He didn’t look like he wanted to order at all. His fingers were caressing the pages with a strangely precise pattern.

“She’s too happy to stay here, definitely not going to waste a sekr… cond. Secrond, I mean, second.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “I, on the other hand, am pretty busy. So, what is it that you wanted to discuss about? I must warn you, I’m actually in a pretty decent mood and I would like to keep it. That requires avoiding any speculation about a certain Billycraggle.”

Eli snickered. His love for creepers couldn’t cover that trauma.

“Got it. This is actually about something else, you know, something I discovered…” He sneaked his phone out of his pocket, but seeing the waitress getting to them again he stopped. “How about we order first? Then we can talk.” Yeah he was going to unleash the truth like one starving troll towards a pile of dirty socks without trollhunters nearby. Didn’t mean he have to be rude towards this extraterrestrial form. Who actually winced.

“Oh, I’m actually not that hungry. You order.” Krel swallowed, pushing the menu away. His arms looked… weird, for reasons Eli failed to understand. He pouted.

“Come on, it’s weird if I’m the only one eating!” He turned to the waitress. “I’ll have the pancakes, gluten-free. With maple syrup. Also gluten-free. Also some apple juice please, you know the drill. My life is in your hands miss.” She giggled and nodded. It was probably well known by the city at that point. Krel on the other hand kept shaking his head.

“Really, I’m fine.”

“At least take something to drink, please? My treat, if that’s the problem.”

“It is not, I’m just… ugh, alright! But I’ll pay my part. I’ll have a cofefe.” The waitress blinked a little. Eli was starting to get the feeling that Krel Tarron never really tried that much to hide his alien nature.

“… oh, a coffee! Sorry sir.” She wrote down the second order on her pad. “Coming right up.”

As they were left alone the tension came back. But it wasn’t as pleasantly expectational as before. Eli swallowed, looking at the guy – was that the right term, alien speaking? – in front of him. Not the friendliest or the most respectful one he had ever encountered, but he knew him on regular basis. He wasn’t some stranger stranded on Earth to conquer them all… right?

Eli took a deep breath, figuring in his head how to bring up the question. His hand was still in his pocket, but he was failing to convince himself to take out the phone.

“I… I can’t stand coffee, way too bitter for me.” Just a bit more of chatter to lessen the mood. “And it’s weird, because my mom told me she used to drink it a lot when she had me. Guess my fetus had enough of that for life. Probably your mom didn’t have that much caffeine when she got pregnant.” 

Was it rude to assume aliens reproduced the same way humans did? Krel might had come out of a space egg for what he knew. He looked down. He was doing it a lot, like it was hard to keep his eyes up.

“I don’t like cof… fee, either. It just keeps me awake.” He blinked a few times, awfully fast, hiding a big yawn. “I… aahh… have a lot to work to do in this period, I cannot waste time. Therefore my need to stay alert has driven me towards this drink.” His movements and expressions were clear about his sleepless condition, yet his face looked pretty much normal. Same brown eyes with no cue for bags, same caramel skin, same soft chin leaning on his hand while the elbow was over the table and…

“Oh my gosh, you have a jacket!!” He did not mean to just go and yell in the middle of the cafeteria. He was pretty sure he just disturbed some cute moment between Toby and Darci. Didn’t matter at the moment, nothing did outside Krel’s confused look.

“… I am confident this is a typical choice of clothes for a teenag-”

“Are you serious??” He finally lowered his voice, clearing it because he was not going over this. “It’s, like, thirty degrees outside! How come are you not melting?”

“I did not let Stuart inform us about the skin’s melting temperature, but I think I found myself in a safe grade. I just experienced the so called ‘chills’ during these days, so I acted consequently, I believe it is not uncommon to feel certain leverage of coldness, even in the summer season.” Krel rubbed his arms, just by looking Eli could feel himself sweating. Not only it covered completely his skin to the wrists, but it was clearly thin denim. Moving on just because he was Latino was not an option anymore – at least not until the confirmation of the existence of Latin American extraterrestrials –, and even if his face was dismissing his doubts it was clear that something was wrong.

Also, going out like that was suicide. He wasn’t thrilled at the idea of facing the wrath of his sister and his sister’s boyfriend who happened to be his best bro.

“Are you okay? It seems to me that you might be sick.”

Krel glared. Immediately. No way he had the time to process, it looked like an instinct reflex. Just how more hostile than usual he could be today?

“I am not.”

“You sure? You’re tired and cold, those can be symptoms. Now I don’t wanna push or anything, if you feel fine then that’s fine, I just wanna be sure.” Last time he tried to be all buddy with him he got ignored. And while he didn’t exactly forget about his existence, right now the way Krel looked on the other direction wasn’t much different. His eyes glared at nothing.

“I will tell you what I already told Zadra, I am completely fine! I checked on my vitals, my health and my cor-heart, heartbeats, that kind of thing. There is absolutely nothing wrong in me, I can assure you, so stop pestering me!” Preventing any other replicas, he just put on his headphones. “And even if it was the case, it is none of your business!” Leaning over the chair a little more he crossed his arms, avoiding eye contact.

Eli pouted. Maybe a little over the top, but still as figured.

“Sorry for asking.” And it wasn’t about his alien nature, because on the other hand Aja was extremely extroverted. It was just him being him, manners he could disagree on – without fearing for intergalactic racism.

He mimicked him, playing the opening of Detective Murdoon over and over inside his head. A part of him wanted to shove the photo right in his snooty face, just to see him falling from his pedestal; the other was too caught up with the sigla of his favorite show to pay attention to revenge. The waitress was probably confused by the outcome, bringing their orders at a pretty tense table. The sweet smell of pancakes woke him up from the torpor, so Eli managed to smile at her before she got away. That was one great pile of flapjacks, the maple syrup was dripping beautifully all over it. The knife sank in it like butter, and it got up as fast if not faster, catapulting drops of syrup over his glasses. The vision before his was deformed, and so was the guy in front of him trying to hide his laugh behind a hand. As soon as he got noticed he cleared his voice, pushing down his headphones.

“Sorry.” Ah, nothing like a dorky scene to ease the tension. As always, flapjacks saved his day. Eli smiled.

“I’m guessing the song ended?”

“Uh, not really, these are not plugged in anything…” He looked very guilty now, looking down at his coffee. “I know you asked because you were concerned about my health, I did not mean to react so harshly. I tested myself, many times, I know I’m fine. My guess is that I haven’t slept enough during these last weeks and it’s affecting my attention and sensations. But my sister and my guardian have asked me every single day and I’m getting tired of that. It’s like they can only talk about what I should do!” He yawned again, taking a little sip of the drink and squeezing his eyes.

Eli giggled, taking a bite of his meal. Soft and perfectly sweet.

“You wanna talk about overbearing? My mom is a champion in that, if I do something you can bet she’ll know and will yell at me about it! Now I’m not saying she’s always wrong, there was a time me and Steve actually did crush her car, but you can lecture me without having the entire city knowing!” His payment as journals deliverer was never gonna cover that, no matter how much that woman insisted. “The guardian you talk about is your granpa?”

Krel gulped, looking down. Ouch, that felt like a mine.

“No, that’s Zadra. She’s was with us since we were kids. Varvatos is… fine. He always is, we just need to wait for him to come back.” He put a hand on his mouth, like he needed to throw up any moment. But his eyes were lucid. He rubbed his arms once again, breathing out. The fan on the ceiling was extremely slow, and the windows were all closed.

Eli put down the fork, concerned.

“Are you still cold?”

“A little…” A loud noise made him jump on his chair. “Kleb! It’s not working! I…!” He turned towards the source, seeing a waiter putting some fruits in a machine and turning it on. His eyes were fixed, a tiny drop of sweat circled his cheek. “Wha- what was that?”

Eli almost choked his food. That was sudden.

“Huh, never had an extracted juice? I had one once, with apple and ginger and something I don’t remember, it tasted like salad! Or carrot, that would make sen-” His hands were shaking terribly. “Sorry but you really don’t look good, maybe you should see someone? Just for the sake of it.” A little part of Eli wanted to know what might happen, a human doctor visiting an alien. It made him feel like an awful person, waiting for something bad just to see an extraterrestrial phenomenon.

Krel shook his head with vigor.

“I told you, I am fine… what?? Another fuel??” He actually stood up, looking at the entrance. Nearby the mechanic was still working at the jukebox, hitting it with his wrench. His eye twitched in sync with the noise, showing no sign of sitting back down. His fixed glare was switching rapidly from the jukebox to the blender. And when the mechanic plugged in the machine to the electricity, that feeble noise startled him so much his headphones slipped and fell on the table. Now his entire body was trembling. A few eyes from the nearby tables were looking at him funny.

Eli stood up as well. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, and after all he was facing an alien, there needed to be a certain level of weirdness! His chest was tightening of a bad presentiment, but he tried to show himself uplifting.

“Bro, maybe all that coffee is getting you a little over the edge…”

“I already told you, I am not your brother! AH!! I already fixed you, it can’t be broken again!!” The waiter in front of the blender turned to him, blinking. Suddenly Krel brought a hand to his mouth, shaking his head. “I… I made a mistake. I should have not left Mother, she still needs me, I can slack off in such a moment!” He walked away from his seat, pointing to the exit.

Eli was completely at loss. He stood up as fast as he could.

“Wait! I thought your parents were at the spa!” At his point he kinda wondered if there really was a planet called Cantaloupia after all. He held other multiple questions and took the headphones, following him. “If you really want to go home that’s fine, let me at least accompany you!” Thinking about it, it was a good plan to get more information. But on first instinct Eli just knew that guy was not okay, no matter how many intergalactic superior medical tests he took.

Krel just kept shaking his head, his hand going from his chin to his chest, grasping his own shirt.

“I don’t require this kind of treatment, just leave me…!” He froze, eyes widened at a few feet from the door. “… _no_.” His arms fell on his sides.

Eli peaked from behind him, since the guy in front of his was so much taller than him – and his sister was even higher, was that an alien quality? –; it was easy recognizing the dark skin and the police badge. Officer Scott got into the cafeteria, looking around with the same eyes his mom had when getting into his room to find something to be mad at him about. Pretty easy realizing he was there for his daughter, especially after he took a look at the happy couple’s table and immediately went for a place nearby, barely noticing them. Just like an agent undercover, he placed the menu in front of his face and tried to make himself smaller. It was hilarious to watch.

Would had been hilarious to watch. Then Eli checked Krel again, and noticed. All of it.

The breathing accelerating. The hand clawed at his chest. The shaking. The dilated pupils. The terror, painted on his face to perfection. For once, he was not questioning a thing. He just grabbed his arm and dragged him to the bathroom, relieved it was completely empty. As soon as they got in Krel fell on his knees, hugging himself, breathing like mad while tears streamed silently through his eyes. He never looked more human, and Eli didn’t even think about his nature. He kneeled as well, trying to look at his eyes, grabbing his shoulder.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s fine, huh? This is just a bad moment, it will go away, I promise! Just try to breath, concentrate on breathing. In and out, like so.” He mimicked the movement, as slowly as he could, because his own heart was beating terribly. “Look how I do and try to do the same. It will go away, don’t worry, just breath. In and out. _Breath_.”

Krel finally locked eyes with him, his lips shaking, breathing a little slower but with the same panic in the movements. He gritted his teeth, tears multiplying, hands gripping his hair.

“I-I-I’m gonna d-die, I-I’m g-gonna die…!”

Eli shook his head, trying to keep the sadness for himself.

“It feels like it, but you’re not. You’re fine, believe you’re fine, you just need to wait until your body knows that too! Breath, okay? It’s the best thing you can do. In and out.” The Latino took a big breath, more normal, his eyes lucid getting more focused. It made him strangely proud. “That’s it, nice and slow, breath.” The tension was slowly melting, so he finally realized he was still holding tight on Krel’s headphones. It was a good idea. He took out his phone and quickly choose a song, plugging the headphones in it. He offered them. “Now don’t stop breathing, and try to concentrate on the music. Just the music, okay?”

A weak nod as a confirm. Krel wore the headphones, closing his eyes, breathing just like it was told him to do. The volume was a little too high, Eli could hear it. but neither of them tried to lower it. Time, undefined and not counted, passed between them. Music and breaths fused together. The faintest Eighties music coming from outside, the jukebox working again probably. Just a few whispered words in the air, “they found us”, “they sent the police”, “it’s all my fault”.

Finally his breathing went back to normal. The tears stopped, the moment left just a mild shaking of his fingers as he clumsily took off the headphones.

_ I’m too young to fall asleep _

_ God keep my head, above water… _

A knock startled the both of them. Krel looked down, turning off the music, lost eyes on the ground. Eli could guess what he was thinking and got up first, peeking outside. It was the waitress, with Darci behind her. The teenage girl looked really worried.

“I’m sorry sir, we just wanted to check on you and your friend.”

“Is everything okay? Krel was acting really weird…”

Eli swallowed, smiling nonetheless. There was something really funny about the all situation, mostly because he was looking at it as an outsider. Overwhelmed in a bathroom, people asking what was wrong, the pressure and the unpredictability of his own body building up another attack. For once it wasn’t about him. For once he was not going to play the part of the teen in distress.

“He got a little sick but it’s all under control, I’ll call you in case something bad happens. Thank you though, I think he just needs some space.” The girls looked relieved and left them alone.

Door closed, then locked. Hopefully the bar did not serve too much beverages that day. Eli went back to the guy on the floor, still shaking like a leaf, looking in fear at the ground like he was desperately thinking of a way to get out. He raised his brown eyes, red and puffy, with such a vulnerability it made him look like a completely different guy.

“I-I’m going crazy, that’s it. There is no other explanation.” He bit his lip. “I’m mad, and there is nothing I can do about it. Nothing.” Another tear, slower, ran through his cheek.

Eli felt pure sympathy for him, sitting on the ground – trying to ignore it was a public bathroom.

“Guess this was your first panic attack.” He felt his eyes on him. “I get it, when I had my first I thought my heart was gonna stop. It’s really scary. But it’s a thing you know, you can’t die from that. Thinking about that should makes it feel less … what? What is it?” Staring was one thing. The expression of absolute shock in his face was another.

“What did you say?”

“I swear, you can’t die from that, your body jus-”

“Seklos and Gaylon, no! Not that!” Krel grabbed him for his shoulders, the faintest hope in his eyes surrounded by a hurricane of doubt. “You called it with a name? It has a name?!”

Eli blinked. And for once his confusion went beyond how he and his sister would randomly come out with those unusual expressions.

“… you didn’t know it was called panic attack?” Krel shook his head with conviction. “Wait, that wasn’t your first after all! When did it start?” His lips moved, but the hesitation in his eyes was vivid. “Krel, I had the same problem for a while, I can help you. I promise I won’t judge you, it’s normal!” Hands were gone, and back he was with his arms crossed, getting on the defensive.

“Normal, you say! There is nothing normal in this!”

“I mean, at least four million people have them, and that’s just America…”

Krel gasped, looking at his hands. Those uncertain fingers that managed to reached the perfect math score with absolute accuracy looked so fragile in this moment.

“That is crazy, that’s just… I never encountered this before!!” He punched the ground, his knuckles made a bad sound. “Why this too?? Can’t this place give us a rest? I don’t care what Aja says, everything went bad since we came here! This primitive place is influencing all of us, corrupting with problems that we never had to deal with before! First the Daxial Array, then the Birdie, all the hunters, the Omen! Why is this happening?? I don’t have time to deal with this too, I don’t!!” Another punch, weaker, that shook against the cold floor of the bathroom and more suffered tears fell from brown eyes.

His breathing was accelerating again, but not in an alarming way, Eli could tell. So he acted consequentially, waiting for him to cool down, patting his back as much as this distant guy would permit him. They were left alone, hopefully the girls made sure not to let anyone enter for a little while. When Krel wiped his last tears, looking less on edge, Eli smiled with patience.

“Nobody likes it when it happens, it’s just awful. You learn to deal with it though, just another burden to add to the rest. And after a while you get stronger from it, because it’s an amount of stress higher than normal. So there a little pro in it, if that can make you a little bit better.”

Krel sniffed, looking at him with doubt. He sighed.

“I had these… attacks of panic, for the last two weeks almost every day.” He crossed his legs, his shoulders falling. “When it happened the first time, I was working on our… house. It got damaged greatly, and I have the skills to repair it. I don’t know what happened, Aja was out with her friends, Zadra was patrolling around the area. I was working, then something turned off on its own.” He was rubbing his arms continuously. “I couldn’t turn it on, no matter how much I tried to. I thought I was doing something wrong, that Mother was going to suffer because of me and my incompetence and before I knew it…” He clenched his fists. “What should I do?”

Eli sighed, hugging his knees. A pretty familiar position, and quite ironic thinking that he would usually go like that during his moments.

“For a start, you have to accept it. I’m sorry but it might happen again. Though it doesn’t make you crazy, nor weak, okay?” Krel swallowed but nodded anyway. “Then you should take it a little easier, it’s clear that you are very stressed. If you really can’t avoid helping your mother then at least ask for some help. Does Aja know?”

He blinked, brown eyes still lucid, staring at him in disbelief.

“Are you insane?! If I’m feeling the pressure she’s feeling Earth’s gravity itself!” Krel mimicked his pose, like he hoped it was some kind of specific position in these cases. “I can’t have her worry over something else. This is my problem, not hers.” That felt warm. Even coming from who knew how far away from Earth, their bond as siblings was strong.

“But you can’t keep it to yourself, you know. That’s bad for you.” No response, and Eli dealt with enough stubborn people – coff Steve coff – to know when to stop pressuring. He fidgeted uncomfortably, only to feel the phone still in his pocket. Another thought burst into his mind. “… can you give me your phone for a moment?” Hesitant offering, but he wasted no time grabbing it and going for the list of numbers. Just a check from his own phone before remembering the correct order. “There you go!”

Krel took back his possession, furrowing his eyebrow.

“Who is this?”

“Do you know Jim? Lake?” A nod. “His mom, Barbara Lake, is a really great doctor and a good listener. She’s a great person and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind some company now that her son is out of town.” He could see a little pout forming, yep, definitely the prideful kind of guy. But fresh from the last attack, this was probably the right moment to convince him. “Look, I know it feels like you have no one that understands you. Like you have been cursed somehow, and there is nothing left to do. But you don’t deserve to feel bad, okay? Having panic attacks is common, forcing yourself to be unhappy it’s not. Just think about it, in case something happens. Your choice.” Something about his words felt right. Knowing the situation and the personality made him feel confident, rightful.

Krel looked at him with widened eyes, then slowly smiled, checking the number like he could hardly believe it.

“Thank you, Eli.” A little hum broke his peace. “May… may I have yours as well? I think I would like to hear a friend’s voice as well if something happens. And I heard from Steve you got a new phone.” True, since the last one made a little trip to the center of Earth. It wasn’t the situation to bring that up though, because that absolutely uncertainty at confronting a possible acquaintance was also extremely familiar. And Eli could barely hold the excitement as he added his number on as well.

Krel made sure to wash his face again and again, hoping no one was going to witness the loss of liquids from his face – his precise words – before coming out of the toilet with Eli. At the table the waitress waved at them.

“Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine.” Krel waited a second, looking at the table. “… actually, I changed my mind about before. May I also order some pancakes? Those look quite delectable” The waitress nodded, walking away. The Latino sat down, a surprised smile on his face. “It’s weird… during these weeks I felt my digestive system opposing to the simple concept of eating. But now I am extremely famished.” For some reason hearing him talking like that eased quickly the tension. Like all bad that happened could be dealt with.

“Stress makes you hungry, it’s pretty normal. Just don’t overdo and you’ll be fine.” Eli looked at Darci’s table made him remember. “Hey, you’re free after this? Darci and Toby are going to see a movie, they asked me to join them! Wanna come?” There was something weirdly understandable in his surprised expression. Like for starting he couldn’t believe he got invited by the “cool kids” – even though those two were definitely the chilliest of the group –, and that it was way too sudden and almost too convenient. Too much for him.

“I… I don’t know.” He looked at his coffee, frowning. “… no, you know, maybe it’s a good idea.” Krel breathed out. “It’s just for a couple of hours after all.” That was not the expression of convinced person, but if the alternative was going back to what happened during those two weeks, that math genius definitely knew better than that.

Eli smiled.

“That’s good. But first, pancakes! We need fuel!”

Krel actually giggled. The problem was nowhere near resolved, but he clearly wanted to try. It was a start, a good start. And for now, it looked enough.

“Sounds like a solid plan… ah, my apologies, you actually invited me to discuss about something. I interrupted you, what is this about?” That gentle look, that was painful. Like he was giving him a bit of trust, and how hard was for a cynical guy like him.

Eli laughed quietly, looking at his phone. It was there, just under the lock screen. The proof of their existence. The confession he was dying to hear.

“… just…” For two weeks he thought planets aligned just for this day, this precise moment, for the truth to be unfold. “… do you have a copy of the mix you played for Battle of the Bands?” But he spent years of speculations, against everybody’s judgmental looks and unreasonable hate that put him in Krel’s same condition before. He could brag about being right another time. “Seamus loved it and would really like to have it.” Eli smiled, satisfied.

For a friend, he could be a little patient.

“Seamus, Seamus… oh, the cute math guy!”

… and play matchmaker, maybe?

**Author's Note:**

> So, I never had panick attacks, all I wrote about comes from reading and my personal knowledge (I study Psychology at University). It's the reason why I made it so it's mostly from Eli's perspective. I've always wanted to try and write about this theme, and after seeing Krel little break down in the last episode of 3Below I felt inspired (after crying as well because my baby T-T)
> 
> I love Eli, and thinking about how he probably went through a lot of bullying and anxiety during his life I figured he was probably the best person to share the same problem. But he's also really optimistic and strong, so I feel like he faced it and managed to deal with it. Nothing a Creepslayer can't handle B)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Leave a comment, kudos or wave with the hand like you just don't care :P  
> See ya!! Byee!!
> 
> P.S. If you see errors let me know, my English can always improve!


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